Poster Jessie Montgomery, composer and violinist
Jessie Montgomery, composer and violinist
Photo: Jiyang Chen
Performance Today®

Jessie Montgomery: Peace

In the Spring of 2020, the pandemic was brand-new, isolating, and scary. American composer Jessie Montgomery wrote a short composition called Peace… and when Clarinetist Anthony McGill first heard it, he was moved to tears. On today's show, Anthony McGill and pianist Conrad Tao play music about coming to terms with sadness: Peace by Jessie Montgomery.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: The Old Castle
Aldo Lopez-Gavilan, piano
Album: En Vivo
Producciones Colibri

Arvo Part: Silouan's Song
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra | Fawzi Haimor, conductor
EBU, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, New Zealand

Bedrich Smetana: Trio No. 1 in G minor for piano, violin and cello, Op. 15
Arnaud Sussmann, violin | Gary Hoffman, cello | Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL

Aldo Lopez-Gavilan: Bonjour Daiana
Aldo Lopez-Gavilan, piano
Grand Piano Series, St. Leo Auditorium, Bonita Springs, FL

Hour 2

Jessie Montgomery: Voodoo Dolls
PUBLIQuartet
Album: PUBLIQuartet
CAG 115

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4: Movement 2 In gemachlicher Bewegung
Taipei Music Academy & Festival Orchestra | Kent Nagano, conductor
Taipei Music Academy & Festival, Concert Hall of National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Jessie Montgomery: Peace for clarinet and piano
Anthony McGill, clarinet | Conrad Tao, piano
La Jolla Music Society, The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, La Jolla, CA

Louis Spohr: Septet in A minor, Op. 147
Marya Martin, flute | Bixby Kennedy, clarinet | Stewart Rose, horn | Peter Kolkay, bassoon | Stella Chen, violin | Nick Canellakis, cello | Michael Stephen Brown, piano
Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, Bridgehampton, NY

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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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